Spent a night and half a day in Kalamazoo, MI connecting with the youth workers of Third Christian Reformed Church and a network of youth workers from the area. Shari Wubben is the director of youth ministries at 3rd. She invited me to come up and inspire and equip her volunteers before they launch into the new ministry season.

I took a couple of hours and worked through some of what my friend Doug Jones and I are developing for Sonlife tentatively called, Shepherding in a Culture of Change. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the folks of 3rd. It as invigorating to see and be with so many with such a deep passion for students.

I also had the priviledge of meeting with a local youth worker network. That too was great fun. I asked a few questions, listened and took notes. A very sharp group of people! The most senior youth worker in the room had 24 years of youth ministry experience. Obviously, you can learn a ton from that much experience. It was also helpful to hear some feedback from an emerging youth worker named Heather who has been on the job for only 2 months! Do you remember those days?

One of the many insights I took away was surrounding the idea of belonging. Yeah, kids want a place to belong but why do we think the only place to belong is our youth room? The truth is students belong on a number of levels in a variety of environments. Many of them don’t need the church to belong (have an identity and a place of acceptance). What makes us think that if we just create a loving atmosphere or a place to belong, then that will be enough to connect with the students in our church and community? It was a time full of great thoughts and great conversations around what it will take to shift our thinking as it relates to developing new paradigms and methods that reach teens.